Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to downloading applications. More specifically, the present invention relates to an account-specific login throttling for downloading applications.
Description of the Related Art
Presently available systems allow individuals to download a variety of applications to their electronic devices at any time. Online application stores, such as the iTunes® App Store, are used by various software developers to make applications available to customers. In circumstances where an application is popular (e.g., “goes viral”), there may be problems when millions of people attempt to download the same application at one time. The application developer may not be prepared for so many people to bombard the server hosting the application with requests for download. In such instances, the server may not be capable of handling that many requests at once, thereby resulting in system failure (e.g., crashing) and/or the application becoming otherwise unavailable for download. In such situations, users may be become frustrated at the unavailability of the application and/or unresponsiveness of the (crashed) system. Not only may such users fail to download the applications, but they may further perceive the developer as being an unreliable source, leading them to avoid downloading other applications by that developer. Such users may also tell others of their experience, leading to loss of additional customers in this regard. Application developers naturally do not want to lose users or achieve such a reputation.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved systems and methods for downloading applications onto electronic devices.